A Nevada federal judge is set to hear arguments in a lawsuit challenging the city of Reno's billboard law.
The Reno Gazette Journal reports the lawsuit contends the ordinance is unconstitutional because it caps the number of billboards at about 275. A voter-approved initiative set the cap in 2000.
Jeffrey Herson sued the city in June after he was denied a billboard permit. Herson wanted the billboard so he could promote a recall of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Judge Larry R. Hicks set a hearing for Wednesday in Reno's U.S. District Court.
In court papers Herson's attorneys contend the law favors commercial speech because it allows new signs for businesses, but bars new signs along city freeways — known as off-premise signs — for non-commercial purposes.
"It is unconstitutional for Reno to require only some non-commercial speakers to obtain permits, while others have carte blanche to post signs as they please," Reno attorney Frank Gilmore, who represents Herson, wrote in court papers. "This fundamental flaw in Reno's permitting process dooms the entire sign ordinance."
City attorneys say the rules only regulate the physical nature of the signs, not the message. They contend Herson could ask a business owner to post a non-commercial message and that there is no special treatment for commercial speech over another. |
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